Gaps
by trufflemores
Summary: 5x20, "The Untitled Rachel Berry Project" reaction fic. The apartment is emptier now with just the two of them, and Kurt can't sleep. Luckily, Blaine is there to remind him that he's not alone. Klaine. COMPLETE.


**Disclaimer**: I do not own Glee or any of its characters; Ryan Murphy and Co. hold that honor. I'm simply writing this for fun, not profit.

Kurt couldn't sleep.

Long after Blaine had trudged off to their bedroom with a sleepy kiss and a reminder not to stay up too late, Kurt was still sitting at the kitchen table pondering an essay not due for another two weeks with a furrowed brow.

It was going on one-thirty in the morning and the city was still surprisingly vibrant outside their walls, cars and people and other indefinable noises filling the air.

Tempted though he was to slip outside to clear his head, his blood ran cold at the thought of leaving the loft. There was something reassuring about Blaine's closeness, something simple and satisfying about knowing that he could walk across the short distance between them and curl up in his arms if the darkness crept too close.

But Kurt had never been afraid of the dark, only the unknown.

Blaine, on the other hand, always seemed edgier when they were out at night. It didn't bother him when they were inside a building – he warmed easily to company and loved being out at social events, regardless of the setting – but he quieted noticeably whenever they were on the streets, itching to return home.

Kurt didn't need to ask to know the source of his anxiety.

Unable to pin down the source of his own restless thoughts, Kurt stared at the screen as he waited for productivity to ease the weight of his sleeplessness.

Caught in his own thoughts, Kurt didn't hear the curtain swish back from their bedroom, only startling a little and letting out a sigh when he felt Blaine's sleep-warm arms curl around his shoulders. Resting his chin on the top of Kurt's head, Blaine lingered like that for a single long moment, resting his weight against Kurt's chair companionably as they took in the silence together.

Pressing a light kiss to the top of Kurt's head, Blaine drifted away without a word, padding over to the fridge and then the stove, setting a pot of milk on it at a low boil as he did so. "You don't have to stay up, B," Kurt chided belatedly, reaching up to rub at his eyes. "I just have to finish this essay."

Blaine made a soft noise as he sidled over to Kurt's chair, resuming his former position behind it as he asked, "What's really on your mind?"

Kurt didn't answer, at first, plucking absentmindedly through his own thoughts in search of a suitable answer. "I miss Rachel," he said at last, surprising himself with how true it was. He'd never thought that Blaine and he would have an apartment of their own so _soon,_ even though he'd always known that they would eventually end up living together. The enormity of his loneliness was staggering, and he couldn't keep quiet as he explained, "I miss all of them. I miss Mercedes and Sam and Artie and Brittany and God, I miss _Santana._"

Blaine pressed his cheek against Kurt's temple, arms still wrapped around him and giving off their own exquisite warmth as he said, "Can I be honest?"

Kurt nodded, a simple, breathless, "Of course," escaping him because Blaine and he had never been anything _but _honest with each other.

"I miss them, too," Blaine said, and it was such a benign confession that Kurt was amazed at how calming it was to hear, "but we can call them and Skype them and invite them to visit sometime. Maybe not right now because it's late," he added thoughtfully, glancing at the digital clock on top of the stove and yawning. "But we'll see them again."

Tugging lightly on Kurt's shoulders, he retreated again to the stove, turning off the burner and pouring them both a mug of warm milk.

"I thought you didn't like warm milk," Kurt said, voice delicate, balancing on the edge of quiet and _needy_, an ache to be home building in his throat as he watched Blaine move.

Blaine looked down at the mugs in his hands for a moment before shrugging, a borderline apologetic shrug that bore no resentment to his fate. "Put that away and follow me," was all he said, nodding at Kurt's laptop before he idled back into their bedroom, leaving the curtain open behind him.

Kurt didn't hesitate, closing down his laptop and pushing it safely to the center of the table before padding after Blaine, closing the curtain behind him. It felt more normal, then, if he just _listened _and didn't think, the city drifting into the realm of white noise as he accepted the mug that Blaine handed him, curling up underneath his arm.

He wasn't ready to take on New York alone, but with Blaine at his side, he didn't have to. Even with the rest of his family (tiny and patchwork though it was) back in Ohio and his friends settled in other cities, Kurt still had Blaine, and they'd find new friendships, new opportunities to expand and grow and conquer the challenges that came their way while keeping their roots alive.

Besides, the silence wasn't nearly as intimidating with a belly full of warm milk and his ear pressed against Blaine's chest, listening to his heartbeat as he slowly drifted off to sleep.


End file.
